Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-06-19
STREET-CAR LINES.
BOW RICHMOND HAS pRosrERgD IN
THIS DIRECTION.
onnihuses and street-Cars in the olasn
-Trsoksge Of Thirty
Miles, sc.

After having been indifIerenty served by
emnibusCs for several years the people OF
Richmond, somewhere in the fitics, re-
solved TO establish strcet-carf, and before
the breaking ont Of the war line was IN
actual operation from Main street a, Ninth
10 the foot Of Libby Hill. When the enemy
got 10 hammCfinC at our gates all the horses
that could he bought, borrowed, or pres sci
were needed and taken for the artillery and
cavalry service. and thus the ears were de.
piived 81 their motive.powcr. Their
horses went into the army, and the rail was
tsen up, and ont Of Il was constructed an
mon battery 81 Chslln's or Drowry's Bluff
that is, an carih.work plated with iron, from
which tie canpon-hals Of that day glanced
like am troms ducks back.
Later on, whom iron became almost ~
precious in the Conicderacy a. gold. i; is
more than likely that these same rails, or
some 81 them, were used for armor OF war
ships, az which several. and very fOrmida.
bic ones, too, were constructed IN Rich
mond.
STFAN SrREET.CAR.
During the war the Ear.Grouuds was
eonscript camp. and groat many Rich
nlond people and thousands of officers ana
soldiers had business there. To accommo.
date the travel between that place and the
city the Fredericksburg Railroad Company
ran car between the camp and Eighth
and Broad streets. II had a dummy
in the front part and in rear Of II
seats for dozen or more. ~ the time OF
the greatest depreciation OF the Confederate
currency the fare was 30 cents. II W.,
convenient, toltrlblv commodlou>, and CN.
pCditon> mode Of transit, albeit, with bell
and whistle. quite a NOISY one; hut those
were dayS before the s;Cam-carS had been
bani>hed from Broad street. and when, in
dee q. the merchants Of that Thrifty retail
thOroughfarC would have regarded with
holy horror any attempt 10 stop The t-unS
~ the western terminus Of the street The
necessities OF war, indeed, allowed no re-
>pcct for streets and connection hctNc
The Petersburg dcro, and The FredeTick>
burg dCyOt along Eighth street was made.
ana a great mountain. climber Of l1comp-
tive pulled and baulcd coaches and freight
ears iICm one road 10 another.
POST.BEIIUN CARS.
After the war the StrcCt-Car Company
was rtorganlzcd and tracks were iaiG On a
grandcr scale than ever before. The stable,
were located near The lower gas.workS ami
Nv the way II Main. Ninth, Broad, and
other streets The ears ran to the old ro>cr.
yoir. Al that DAY there were thousand, Of
United states troops chartered at Camp
Grant lIiarVietoWul, and the phronage ~
these military gentlemen was very ydlu'
able.
After that camp was abandoned and all
the Federal troops removed from the Vi
Cinity. the ReSerVoir-street track was taken
up. The stables were also removed from
ROckdjsto Leigh street near Adams, and
The track from Libby Hi 10 Rockets wa
taken up. Then for Years the line only cX-
trntcd IRON Brook avenue down Broad,
Ninth. and Main 10 LIBBY Hill Later it was
extended wtstwaTdiy, and, after many
changes. finally found permanent tcrm-
nus on Main street at the Intersection II
Reservoir. \ icw years back the Main
street line was pat into oper4 ion, and WI>
success from the beginning. This gave
10 Richmond boT>C-car lines covering
routes Of four or five miles. or 4 trd,ki-e
81 about seven or eight miles.
TRA,KAGE.
In December. 1851. the Richmond and
Manchester >ltcet.Rlilway Company but
me connecting thc two cities acro>, the
Free bridge. Is route i, f.li3 wards long
and II has 30 yards cf double track,
giving II a total lTac6age Of about three
and one third miles.
Altogether Richmond and Manchester
bad January J, lS>i, Strcet-clr routes OF
about seven or eight miles. January ],
1873, The figures will be- about a> follows
Length Of Pouies. rra.kage
Miles. Mile.